Holiday DIY Craft Ideas

Holidays are just a hop, skip and jump away. Now is the time to start thinking about decorating, if you haven’t already. As a military family, you try to minimize your belonging in case you get stationed elsewhere and have to move.

There are inexpensive projects you can do to make holidays festive without the hassle of holding on to decorations from year-to-year. These projects can create new family tradition and bring freshness to each Holiday season.

Holiday Wreaths Say Welcome

Wreaths come in all shapes and sizes; some are elegant while others are whimsical. It all depends on your personality. A wreath on your front door just say’s “Welcome to my warm home.” Wreaths are made of wood, wire, branches, ornament and even food; they can support your favorite sports team or just say Happy Holidays.

So, why not make this year’s theme candy canes? Making a candy cane wreath is inexpensive and can be personalized with items that matter to you and your family. Candy canes come in many colors and sizes; it won’t be hard to match your decor. This project only takes about 20 candy canes, a glue gun, some cardboard for a base, and ribbon for hanging your wreath. You can glue your candy canes together to make hearts or stars or whatever look you desire.

Children will love this sweet project and will want to be involved.

Make a wreath for the front door, one for the children’s bedroom doors and even one for the office; but most importantly make it with love.

Warmth Of A Festive Fireplace

There is nothing like sitting in front of a crackling fire that is dressed up and scented with holiday charm. The mantel is a perfect place to start when putting together that cozy spot.

Garlands are one easy way to dress things up. A pinecone garland is simple to make and can be fashioned, painted even glittered for a beautiful addition to your decor. When making a garland you can add poinsettias, pine tree branches, cinnamon, Christmas ornaments; you can make it as colorful or as neutral as you want, you can even add holiday spices for an enticing aroma.

Garlands, like a wreath, can be made with wire, yarn, or another strong twine. Pinecones, cinnamon sticks and maybe even some potpourri bags and ornaments along with a hot glue gun, will allow you to tie and wrap your way to a beautiful garland holiday appeal.

A garland will lay nicely across the front of your mantel, you can let it hang off or just fit the top. Embellish your garland with holly leaves, poinsettias, or home-made potpourri bags; there are endless possibilities for creating a stunning mantel piece.

Add to your garland with a few festive candles, or create a quaint little holiday village from collected milk and juice cartons. You can paint these small houses or cover them with wrapping paper. Add cardboard chimneys and church steeples, embellish them with glitter, buttons, bows or whatever you and your children can imagine. You can make cardboard pine trees or paint some pine cones and use them as trees to add to your village, then add LED lights to create a stunning holiday ambiance.

Centerpieces Can Be Simple Yet Attractive

One of the most joyful things about the holidays is gathering around the table for a family meal. The table becomes a focal point at any holiday gathering. It also needs to be dressed for the occasion. Centerpieces play a big roll in bringing together holiday cheer. Whether your style is elegant or simple, you can create a centerpiece that will make a statement. Centerpieces don’t have to be expensive or even complicated to be attractive.

Having candles in the table mix creates a warm, inviting dining experience. Centerpieces can be created with canning jars, vases, baskets, bows, berries and even pine cones. If you can imagine it you can create it. For a beautiful piece, you can place a tall pillar candle and holder inside a larger vase and fill in around it with cranberries, kumquats, and walnuts. Or if you prefer, you can just fill a vase with Christmas ornaments and adorn it with a few sprigs of pine branches, tie a bow around it and it will be just as attractive.

For another creation, get a basket, wire or wicker, tie a bow around it and place two candles in candle holders side-by-side and then surround it with a holiday scented potpourri mix of cinnamon, orange spice, cranberry, pine or even sugar cookies.

Outdoor Holiday Happenings

Showing holiday spirit outside is as important as on the inside. Bringing your yard to life is part of the fun of this festive season. You could run out and purchase a big bulky balloon snowman or that wooden sleigh, but then you will have to find a place to store it. Or you could just get chicken wire and make it into a round ball and cover it with lights of all colors, putting them around the yard for a colorful display or hang smaller ones from the trees.

You can also create a Terra Cotta Snowman, with different size flower pots stacked, painted and decorated with a top hat, a button nose and two eyes made out of coal. So, from paper plate lollipops wrapped in clear wrap to and placed on a dowel in your garden or tea lights in canning jars lining your front walkway outdoor decorations are beautiful and affordable.

You can find almost everything you need to build your holiday style either on hand, the dollar stores or home stores. You will love watching your children use their imagination as they make their holiday magic come to life, and holiday memories will be created and treasured for years to come.